In an interaction on X, Arvind Srinivas the CEO of Perplexity AI posted about the complex immigration procedures of the USA. The Chairman of X, Elon Musk responded by claiming that the Republican Nominee, Donald Trump is the right man, who will make the necessary changes to the current biased process.
Srinivas had posted, “I have been waiting for my green card for like the last 3 years. Still haven’t gotten it. People mostly have no idea when they talk about immigration.” Srinivas was interacting with another account about the complexities of immigration to the United States.
Srinivas is an Indian origin, Silicon Valley entrepreneur. An IIT-Madras alumnus, he has worked at Sam Altman’s OpenAI as a research intern when he started out. He has also worked at Google and DeepMind as a research intern prior to joining OpenAI as a research scientist. He co-founded Perplexity AI in 2022.
The post by Srinivas on X, caught the attention of the Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who responded by saying, “We have an upside down system that makes it hard for highly talented people to come to America legally, but trivial for criminals to come here illegally. Why is it easier to get in illegally as a murderer than legally as a Nobel Laureate? @realDonaldTrump and DOGE will fix this.”
Musk was targeting the apparent biased immigration system under the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration. Trump and his supporters have long advocated a need for stricter border control measures that aim at granting citizenship only to specific individuals. Musk was echoing Trump’s views wherein the former President had also criticized Biden and Harris for letting in criminals and anti social elements.
The DOGE, Musk was referring to is the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’. A few months back, Trump had announced that he would offer the Tesla CEO a cabinet post if he was elected as President. Responding to an X user who suggested “DOGE (Department Of Government Efficiency)” as the name for the proposed department, Musk had said, “Perfect name.”
Elon Musk the richest man in the world has gone all in, in support of Donald Trump. His pro-Trump America PAC has already spent $118 million and has the budget to spend tens of millions more, almost all of that coming from Musk himself. Republican nominee Trump has described Musk an “once-in-a-generation industry leader, and our broken federal bureaucracy could certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency.”
It will be interesting to see how far the camaraderie between Trump and Musk works out. Both men have declared themselves as completely pro industry and free enterprise and this post on X echoes such ideas. Whether it is in rhetoric or in practise, will only be clear if Donald Trump manages to clinch the upcoming US elections.